The Janitors' Closettag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-780922664427579002018-05-11T16:52:19-07:00Thoughts and commentary about the janitorial and office cleaning business.TypePadjanitorsclosethttps://feedburner.google.com4000 above the Grand Canyontag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c0224e0391725200d2018-05-11T16:52:19-07:002018-05-11T16:52:19-07:00Here's a picture article from the Sun, out of Great Britain, about cleaning the underside of the glass in the Grand Canyon Skywalk. We're right down the freeway, in Phoenix AZ. The glass we clean, as part of providing commercial janitorial service, is a bit different. We keep both feet on the ground (as in the photo to the right). Catch the article, and the pictures. Not much more I can say.Bob

We're right down the freeway, in Phoenix AZ. The glass we clean, as part of providing commercial janitorial service, is a bit different. We keep both feet on the ground (as in the photo to the right).

Catch the article, and the pictures. Not much more I can say.

http://blog.cbnclean.com/blog/2018/05/4000-above-the-grand-canyon.htmlIs yours really a "Green" cleaning program?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c0224df31006f200b2018-05-07T15:36:18-07:002018-05-07T15:40:07-07:00"Green Cleaning" programs should involve not only reducing your facility's environmental footprint (things like energy efficiency, recycling materials, product packaging efficiency) but also protecting the health of the humans involved. Makes sense; essentially, what protects people tends to also protect the fish downstream. We've been protecting human health, and our environment, for some 30 years. Here's how: We're certified in Greenguard Environment Institute's cleaning program, originally developed for cleaning schools, hence incorporating an emphasis on indoor air quality, dust control and touch-point sanitation. Using Greenguard's specifications, we keep you healthy via Green Seal certified chemicals, reduced chemical usage, avoiding aerosols...Bob

"Green Cleaning" programs should involve not only reducing your facility's environmental footprint (things like energy efficiency, recycling materials, product packaging efficiency) but also protecting the health of the humans involved. Makes sense; essentially, what protects people tends to also protect the fish downstream. We've been protecting human health, and our environment, for some 30 years. Here's how:

We use concentrated chemicals to reduce packaging and shipping fuel usage, and emphasize fuel and energy efficiencies in our day-to-day operations.

We provide Green Seal certified restroom paper goods, made of 100% recycled material. We can assist you in recycling programs (we belong to the Arizona Recycling Coalition), and can advise you in LEED certification through our U S Green Building Council membership.

Take a glance in your janitor's closet. See an unfiltered vacuum? See a feather duster or a dust-mop, which will just move the fine particle around (wouldn't it be nice to remove those fine particles instead?) Ready-to-use, or residential level, chemicals? Outdated, or unlabeled, chemicals? Scouring powder, or bleach (neither are particularly people or environmentally friendly)? (By the way - did they give you a Safety Data Sheet book for those chemicals? - if not, it could be that the folks you contracted with don't know what chemicals their crews are using, a common situation with franchise operations)

It takes a bit more than a few "Green" chemicals to make a "Green Cleaning" program.

http://blog.cbnclean.com/blog/2018/05/is-yours-really-a-green-cleaning-program.htmlSchool janitors carrying guns?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c0223c847ffeb200c2018-05-02T14:11:55-07:002018-05-07T15:29:28-07:00Interesting proposal out of Brevard County, Florida, in response to the recent shootings. It would allow some guns in schools, to defend against or deter shooters: "... The proposal—Sheriff-Trained Onsite Marshal Program (STOMP)—would be limited to full-time staff such as custodians, vice principals, and cafeteria workers. Teachers are not eligible. Among 700 eligible workers polled by the district, almost 40 percent said they would be interested in participating." It would require some 130 hours of training for participants; one would imagine background checks as well. I quote further: "However, many people are uncomfortable with the idea, including the president of...Bob

Interesting proposal out of Brevard County, Florida, in response to the recent shootings. It would allow some guns in schools, to defend against or deter shooters:

"... The proposal—Sheriff-Trained Onsite Marshal Program (STOMP)—would be limited to full-time staff such as custodians, vice principals, and cafeteria workers. Teachers are not eligible. Among 700 eligible workers polled by the district, almost 40 percent said they would be interested in participating." It would require some 130 hours of training for participants; one would imagine background checks as well.

I quote further: "However, many people are uncomfortable with the idea, including the president of the school district’s teacher union, parents, and gun control advocates. They feel the presence of guns in schools will endanger students....". The only danger I can see would be that of accidental shootings. But accidental shootings claim only around 500 lives annually in the US, hardly a major concern compared to a few school shootings. And those accidents generally involve untrained folks.

Curious, though, that the proposal should exclude teachers. Cafeteria workers are a bit limited in the area of the school they frequent, and janitors tend to be in limited numbers (sometimes nonexistent) on site during the day. And there is usually only one vice principal. You'd think that, given many more teachers on site and in the classrooms, arming a few of them who have volunteered would much better serve the purpose.

But perhaps janitors and cafeteria workers are viewed as more responsible than teachers?

http://blog.cbnclean.com/blog/2018/05/school-janitors-carrying-guns.htmlAvoid hospital bedstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c01bb0a055faa970d2018-04-19T13:00:20-07:002018-04-19T13:00:20-07:00Caught another article on disease transmission. I've always favored avoiding hospitals whenever possible; I now discover that hospital beds, and particularly mattresses, are a ready source of hospital acquired infections. Even with sheets changed (and, one assumes, railing, headboard and bedside table disinfected), one has a close to six times better chance of picking up the pathogen from the previous occupant than if he'd not been infected in the first place. I could excerpt, but perhaps better to read the article in its entirety. Not much the janitor can do about that issue.Bob

Caught another article on disease transmission. I've always favored avoiding hospitals whenever possible; I now discover that hospital beds, and particularly mattresses, are a ready source of hospital acquired infections. Even with sheets changed (and, one assumes, railing, headboard and bedside table disinfected), one has a close to six times better chance of picking up the pathogen from the previous occupant than if he'd not been infected in the first place. I could excerpt, but perhaps better to read the article in its entirety.

http://blog.cbnclean.com/blog/2018/04/avoid-hospital-beds.htmlBacteria from the hand dryertag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c01b8d2ec3d94970c2018-04-18T15:38:24-07:002018-04-18T15:38:24-07:00Caught an interesting study, via Cleaning and Maintenance Management, concerning some 36 restroom blown-air hand dryers. It seems the air the dryer blows across your wet hands can have 20 to 60 times the bacteria load of ordinary, non-moving restroom air. No indication as to whether the critters are hiding in the blower, or they are in the air and you come into contact with a lot more of them via the blower. A hint might be that when restroom air is being moved about by a small fan, the readings fall in between the other observations. I've looked a...Bob

Caught an interesting study, via Cleaning and Maintenance Management, concerning some 36 restroom blown-air hand dryers. It seems the air the dryer blows across your wet hands can have 20 to 60 times the bacteria load of ordinary, non-moving restroom air.

No indication as to whether the critters are hiding in the blower, or they are in the air and you come into contact with a lot more of them via the blower. A hint might be that when restroom air is being moved about by a small fan, the readings fall in between the other observations.

I've looked a bit at hand dryers; our occasional commercial janitorial client requests our thoughts on installing them, mostly to save on paper towels. What research I've seen is that air - and pathogens - exiting the blower travel for several yards. Should the fellow using the dryer not have thoroughly washed, the germs on his hands can travel throughout a medium sized restroom, usually at about head (and mouth and nose) height.

I rather like hand towels.

http://blog.cbnclean.com/blog/2018/04/bacteria-from-the-hand-dryer.htmlLies, darn lies, and statisticstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c01b8d2ea37b7970c2018-04-11T14:13:30-07:002018-04-11T14:13:30-07:00Here's a pretty good example of how to misinform using statistics. Based on a survey from the National Partnership for Women & Families: " ....about one-third of women surveyed do not believe they are receiving the same pay as men in their organization with similar experience, qualifications, and job titles, according to a survey of over 800 hiring managers and over 800 workers by Career Builder." This is of "full time employees". Sounds pretty definitive, leaving aside the usual caveats about how people respond to surveys. You'll notice, however, that we're looking at annual compensation, not hourly wage. That seems...Bob

Based on a survey from the National Partnership for Women & Families: " ....about one-third of women surveyed do not believe they are receiving the same pay as men in their organization with similar experience, qualifications, and job titles, according to a survey of over 800 hiring managers and over 800 workers by Career Builder." This is of "full time employees".

Sounds pretty definitive, leaving aside the usual caveats about how people respond to surveys.

You'll notice, however, that we're looking at annual compensation, not hourly wage. That seems the usual approach on surveys, and studies, resulting in wide gender pay disparity. Wonder why?

The survey corrects for experience, qualifications, titles, and for "full time classification". They do not correct for hours actually worked over the year.

For a variety of reasons, "full time" men in America work, on aggregate, substantially more hours than "full time" women. Women tend to be primary family caregivers; they stay home with sick children, and grandparents, and even the occasional sick husband. Men tend to go to work instead, and also tend to ask for more overtime than women. (Is the gender differentiated "care giver" role fair? I don't know, but it exists. Do men ("Manly men") tend to "suck it up" and go to work when sick or tired (or hung over), when women have the sense to stay home? Probably.)

If a given woman, working full time, averages 35 hours per week, and a given man, working full time, averages 45 hours (the last 5 at time and a half), it sort of makes sense that the fellow's end of year take home is substantially higher, even when they make the same hourly pay.

In commercial janitorial, most of our outlay involves labor. So I keep an eye on industry surveys on compensation. I don't see much difference in hourly compensation between genders. I rather suspect most industries are similar.

So, if comparing income across genders, look at pay per amount of work produced (say, pay per hour). It's a more honest comparison.

http://blog.cbnclean.com/blog/2018/04/lies-darn-lies-and-statistics.htmlRestaurant screens covered with creepy crawliestag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c01b8d2e88740970c2018-04-05T15:52:09-07:002018-04-05T15:54:32-07:00The trendy touch screens on restaurant tables, replacing people for taking one's dinner order, turn out to be quite germ laden, according to an article in Cleaning & Maintenance Management. And who ever washes up after ordering the cheeseburger, but before picking it up and chomping? Makes sense. In providing commercial janitorial service, we try to keep on top of various touch points around the office. Doorknobs and phone handsets are obvious, but few think about the coffee pot handle, or the touch screen on the microwave. Looks like, in addition to our current sanitation training, I'll have to look...Bob

The trendy touch screens on restaurant tables, replacing people for taking one's dinner order, turn out to be quite germ laden, according to an article in Cleaning & Maintenance Management. And who ever washes up after ordering the cheeseburger, but before picking it up and chomping?

Makes sense. In providing commercial janitorial service, we try to keep on top of various touch points around the office. Doorknobs and phone handsets are obvious, but few think about the coffee pot handle, or the touch screen on the microwave. Looks like, in addition to our current sanitation training, I'll have to look at how my people order their food at the local burger joint.

http://blog.cbnclean.com/blog/2018/04/restaurant-screens-covered-with-creepy-crawlies.htmlSpring Cleaningtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c01b7c95d6ce0970b2018-04-02T15:47:03-07:002018-04-02T15:48:17-07:00We're a few days into Spring. What does that bring to mind, given that I run a janitorial service for a living? From Cleaning & Maintenance Management: "Ninety-one percent of Americans participate in some form of spring cleaning every few years, according to a recent study by the American Cleaning Institute (ACI)." Sounds high to me. Particularly suspicious was a finding that "millennials are more likely to partake in spring cleaning than baby boomers." I knew baby boomers were bad - but worse than millennials? We don't do spring cleaning. We figure that a client's facility needs to be maintained...Bob

We're a few days into Spring. What does that bring to mind, given that I run a janitorial service for a living?

"Ninety-one percent of Americans participate in some form of spring cleaning every few years, according to a recent study by the American Cleaning Institute (ACI)."

Sounds high to me. Particularly suspicious was a finding that "millennials are more likely to partake in spring cleaning than baby boomers." I knew baby boomers were bad - but worse than millennials?

We don't do spring cleaning. We figure that a client's facility needs to be maintained at optimum level ongoing, not just when the mood strikes. Thus, we also include various periodic services (burnishing and refinishing, carpet cleaning, windows) on a regular schedule, so that nothing is ever neglected, or allowed to deteriorate.

Spring cleaning strikes me as akin to restoration. Maintenance is cheaper, preserves the facility, and never embarrasses our client.

Or us.

http://blog.cbnclean.com/blog/2018/04/spring-cleaning.htmlMild or effective - your choicetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c01bb09fe9d23970d2018-03-26T09:55:00-07:002018-03-26T09:55:00-07:00It seems that the dome of the Washington state capital is covered with lichen, a periodic problem (one of the many advantages of our hot, dry Sonoran Desert climate in the Phoenix area - not much lichen). The dome authorities have to clean the dome every few years, but face an extra challenge this time; from the article: "It’s about the darkest the stains I’ve ever seen,” said Gizzi. He said that might be attributed to how the dome was last cleaned in 2012. Gizzi said the state chose not to use the traditional chemical cleaner, which was thought to...Bob

It seems that the dome of the Washington state capital is covered with lichen, a periodic problem (one of the many advantages of our hot, dry Sonoran Desert climate in the Phoenix area - not much lichen).

The dome authorities have to clean the dome every few years, but face an extra challenge this time; from the article:

"It’s about the darkest the stains I’ve ever seen,” said Gizzi. He said that might be attributed to how the dome was last cleaned in 2012. Gizzi said the state chose not to use the traditional chemical cleaner, which was thought to have damaged the capitol’s sandstone."

In the commercial janitorial industry, we face similar (if not quite as visible) issues every day. The ":really good" stripper, or all purpose cleaner, or disinfectant, turns out to be damaging to the surface, or dangerous to the cleaning person, or bad for the water treatment plant downstream (don't even think about pouring it into the planter or the storm drain), or to air quality. It all takes research, and often responsible compromise.

As Frederic Hayek noted, there are few perfect solutions, only trade-offs.

http://blog.cbnclean.com/blog/2018/03/mild-or-effective-your-choice.htmlLots of folks are not set up for touchpoint sanitation tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c01b8d2e46593970c2018-03-21T16:08:56-07:002018-03-21T16:11:54-07:00Quoted a string of health care clinics the other day; a concern at several of them was the constant irritation of grubby handprints on doors, door jambs, and so on - never addressed by the janitorial service. It occurred to me that if the touch-points were not being cleaned, they certainly could not be sanitized. I'm always surprised, looking in my competitor's janitor closets (I run a janitorial service in Phoenix AZ), how seldom I see proper equipment for touch-point cleaning and sanitation. (Touch-points would include door jambs, knobs and push plates; elevator buttons; stair rails; counters; interior glass -...Bob

Quoted a string of health care clinics the other day; a concern at several of them was the constant irritation of grubby handprints on doors, door jambs, and so on - never addressed by the janitorial service. It occurred to me that if the touch-points were not being cleaned, they certainly could not be sanitized.

I'm always surprised, looking in my competitor's janitor closets (I run a janitorial service in Phoenix AZ), how seldom I see proper equipment for touch-point cleaning and sanitation. (Touch-points would include door jambs, knobs and push plates; elevator buttons; stair rails; counters; interior glass - not restroom or lunchroom surfaces.)

It's pretty simple. We start with a microfiber cloth. Microfiber scrubs better than cotton or paper, and absorbs more - both dirt and germs. We apply Alpha-HP, a Diversey hydrogen peroxide based cleaner/sanitizer, to the cloth (to minimize both over-wetting or surfaces and over-spray) and wipe the touch-point with the moistened cloth.

The Alpha-HP is a quite effective cleaner, as is a moistened microfiber cloth; combined, they're hard to beat. Similarly, most pathogens are removed along with the dirt (thanks to the microfiber); what's left is killed by the Alpha-HP - it gives us 30 to 60 second sanitation, depending on the particular germ, which is achievable with a quick wipe. 30 to 60 seconds is feasible on a touch-point; the 10 minutes required with a disinfectant is impractical, except in restrooms where one has a bit more freedom to apply solution liberally. (Think trying to keep a door jam wet for 10 minutes, let alone a light switch.) Finally, the germs picked up by the cloth promptly die, thanks to the cloth being loaded up with the sanitizer - so cross contamination is minimized.

Change out the microfiber cloths frequently (and avoid using the same cloth in critical areas, like restrooms) and launder them often, and one has an effective system; further, a system that takes no longer to use than the traditional damp-wipe to "clean" the touch-point.